News From Members of the NY Press Club

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Carole Zimmer

Making podcasts under the umbrella of Now What?, Carole's podcast with Gloria Steinem was a 2016 award winner from the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation. Her latest visit is with “The Vagina Monologues” writer, Eve Ensler.

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A note from long-time Press Club member and multiple award-winning radio and TV reporter, Carole Zimmer:

“Now What?” is a podcast that brings me right back to my roots on an FM radio station interview show I did a long time ago. (Don’t ask me how long ago.)

"Now What?" is about transitions, re-inventing yourself, inspiration and how you navigate those curves in the road. It stars some of the most interesting, smart, accomplished, inventive, funny and thoughtful people you’ll ever meet.

Here’s the link to the official website for the series, containing all my podcasts. Also, please follow me on Twitter and Instagram @Now_WhatPodcast. And let me know what you think."

Brigitte Quinn

1010 WINS anchor Brigitte Quinn gives readers a behind the scenes look into the world of cable news with the
release of her sharp and witty debut novel, "ANCHORED".

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Brigitte Quinn has worked in broadcasting for more than thirty years as a TV anchor at the Fox News Channel, MSNBC and NBC. She holds an MFA in writing from Sarah Lawrence College and a BS from Cornell University. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and three children, and is currently anchoring mornings at 1010WINS radio in New York City.

Fans of The Devil Wears Prada and HBO’s The Newsroom will enjoy Brigette's "Anchored" which tells the story of Barbara King whose dream is to become the next Barbara Walters. For now, she’s anchoring at the fledgling Phoenix news channel, covering car chases and interviewing drunken showbiz has-beens. If she can just move up to the prime-time line-up, she’ll be able to fly the coop to a real news network.

Enter Jack Stone, Barbara’s dynamic, witty, and sexy new co-anchor. As a potential competitor, Jack is chilly toward Barbara at first, but before long, they find themselves finishing each other’s sentences as they attempt to ignore how wildly attracted they are to each other.

Will Barbara give in to her attraction and betray Ben,
her husband and sweet-souled moral compass? When a life-altering news event propels the Phoenix station to the #1 news channel in the nation, will Barbara sell her soul to become a primetime star? Well, get the book and find out!

Beth Karas, a New York Press Club Board member, has launched an exciting new venture, KarasOnCrime.com,
a website that transports visitors to the heart of ongoing criminal justice dramas.

During a nearly two decade run as an on-air correspondent for Court TV (later renamed In Session on truTV), Beth has covered many of the nation's highest profile criminal cases including Jodi Arias, the Arizona woman convicted of first degree murder of her ex-boyfriend, Casey Anthony, the Florida mother acquitted of murdering her toddler, Penn State's Jerry Sandusky, convicted of molesting 11 boys over a 15-year period, and Illinois cop Drew Peterson, convicted of drowning his third wife.

On KarasOnCrime.com, Beth brings on-going legal battles to life using her extensive and compelling on-scene multimedia reporting skills.

For nearly two decades, Beth offered insight, analysis, and on-the-spot reporting of legal stories from courthouses across the country. She distinguishes herself from her colleagues because of her unique expertise—knowledge of the law and procedure drawn from her experience in the trenches as an assistant district attorney in the office of former New York County District Attorney, Robert Morgenthau.

Beth has evolved into a multi-platform journalist. She has appeared as a legal expert on virtually every cable and network news programs, including Nightline, Dateline, The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Early Show, CNN's AC360, HLN's Nancy Grace and Jane Velez-Mitchell, and Inside Edition. She was contributor and senior legal analyst for Wild About Trial, a website dedicated to comprehensive coverage of criminal trials, including a live stream of trials and hearings, an archive of court documents, and articles and commentary.

With the launch of KarasOnCriime.com, Beth hopes to continue a mission to educate and enlighten the public about the justice system by reporting from criminal and civil trials using the latest technologies available.

Debra Luczak Hoffman

Starts business to help journalists and publishers compete.

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Journalism jobs once thought to be essential to credibility are disappearing as news publishers struggle with the economics of the digital era.

Even in print publications,
typos, non-sequiturs, misspellings, and questionable conclusions are noticeably on the rise as editors, copy editors, and fact checkers are shown the door in austerity
cut-backs. Such moves may make economic sense "in the moment" but may also take a heavy toll on credibility, over time.

A new Associate Member of the New York Press Club, Debra Hoffman, was recently laid-off by The Wall Street Journal in her 22nd year as its awards coordinator. In that
role Debra skillfully tracked, organized, prepared and submitted the Journal's prodigious output to a variety of journalism competitions - international, regional and
local - including the Pulitzer Prizes and the New York Press Club Awards for Journalism. Some may think of journalism awards as non-essential but their value to publishers
is undeniable as promotional opportunities, morale boosters and as a way to maintain and assert standards of excellence through peer review, recognition and acknowledgement.

Debra has started a business, a service, that will bring that message - and all that it entails - to publishers everywhere. Basically, she will prepare and submit her
clients' work to appropriate journalism competitions. From her LinkedIn page:

"Send us your award-worthy articles with descriptions of their merits. We'll take it from there.

We'll line up the contests, complete the entry forms down to
the last punctuation mark. We'll gather the supporting materials and ensure that all the entry requirements are met. We never miss deadlines.

We bring 20 plus years of our
experience to position your work for success. That is our expertise. We free your expertise to continue developing the great work needed to enter the awards contests you
know you could win."

A website is in the works. Meantime, Debra can be reached at deb@debhoffman.net

Steve Scott emcees New Jersey Speakers Series

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WCBS Newsradio 880 anchor and New York Press Club 1st Vice President, Steve Scott, is serving as emcee for the inaugural season the of the
New Jersey Speakers Series at NJPAC in Newark.

The series is comprised of seven evenings of diverse opinions, profound insights and fascinating discussion on a broad scope of issues with guests that include former Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright (pictured with Steve), actor Alan Alda, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough.

The New Jersey Speakers Series is modeled after highly acclaimed Speakers Series in Philadelphia and Boston, both of which have been "Sold Out" since their inception many years ago.

Kieran CrowleyWrites new thriller, first to be published under his real name.

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New York Press Club member and award-winning New York Post investigative reporter Kieran Crowley
has written a brand new thriller entitled, HACK, a Shepherd Novel. Published by Omicron Press, it is Crowley's first novel
published under his real name. Under his pen name of Sean Michael Bailey, he published 1787 in 2008.

Crowley has written four non-fiction books, SLEEP MY LITTLE DEAD, The True Story of the Zodiac Killer;
BURNED ALIVE; THE SURGEON'S WIFE; and ALMOST PARADISE. All were published by St. Martin's Press.

Crowley is a former New York Post reporter who has covered hundreds of trials and thousands of murders, including the assassination of John Lennon, as well as the
cases of Amy Fisher, Katie Beers, and Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski. He is currently working on his next novel, SMASH.

Evan WeinerAppears in Two Documentaries

January, 2014 - "The Business & Politics of Sports" gets update.

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Evan is an award winning journalist who is among a very small number of reporters who cover the politics and business of sports
and how that relationship affects not only sports fans but the non-sports fan as well.

Evan's collection of columns, "The Business and Politics of Sports," first published in 2005, has been updated a second time
for 2014.

Now an e-book, the update takes a look at the global sports industry between August, 2010 and January, 2014
and examines how the business operates.

Evan has also recently appeared in two sports documentaries. In "The Sons of Ben," he helps tell the story
of how a grassroots organization helped establish momentum that led to the creation of the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the
Philadelphia Independence of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league.

He also appears in "Touchdown Israel," still being edited,
that tells the story of American football's growth in that country.

Debra Caruso MarroneWrites Book About Alma Mater

October 9th, 2013 - Fordham University features prominently in Fordham University & the United States: A History.

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Deb Caruso Marrone, founder of DJC Communications (and publicist for the Press Club), is out with a book that will likely be of interest to anyone with a connection to
Fordham University.

A graduate and member of the Fordham alumni association’s Board of Directors, Debra documents the life of the university, intertwining university events and the students and
faculty members who made their mark on the nation. She writes about national figures who impacted the institution, once a stomping ground for U.S. presidents, war heroes and
leaders in all fields.

The book contains the story of Fordham’s rebirth, alongside that of the Bronx, under its three most recent presidents and includes photographs dating back to the mid 1800’s.

A fundraiser for Fordham students via the Fordham College Alumni Association, the book will also be of interest to those with ties to the Bronx.

Debra Caruso Marrone is president and owner of DJC Communications in New York City. She has more than 30 years experience as a media executive. Founded in 1991, her firm represents
corporations, non-profit organizations, colleges and universities. She has been quoted on media issues in Marketwatch, ABC News Radio, WNYC, the Arizona Republic,
Forbes.com, AOL WalletPop, The Christian Science Monitor and The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, among others.

Seton Hall Honors Glenn Schuck

April 13th, 2013 - Former Press Club president inducted into WSOU-FM Hall of Fame.

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Seton Hall’s award-winning radio station WSOU 89.5 FM has inducted Glenn Schuck (’85) into it's Hall of Fame, an honor that recognizes distinguished alumni and individuals who have made a significant contribution to their professions as well as through their involvement in the student-run station.

Glenn was president of the New York Press Club from 2009 until 2012. He is News Director for Clear Channel's 24/7 News Source newswire and a long time reporter for all-news, 1010 WINS.

He began his radio career in 1981 serving as WSOU’s News Director and later became Station Manager for WSOU. Upon graduation, the New Jersey native continued in radio as a DJ for stations such as WJRZ/Jersey Shore and WPST/Trenton. He then made the switch to journalism, anchoring business reports for CNBC, and for the past 14 years reporting for 1010 WINS.

WSOU signed on the air on April 14, 1948 as the first college-owned FM station in New Jersey and one of the first FM stations in the United States. Since its inception, WSOU has been a training ground for hundreds of Seton Hall students who have gone on to outstanding careers in broadcasting, journalism, the music industry and other professions.

According to Seton Hall, Glenn was chosen for the WSOU Hall of Fame for his active role as mentor at the station and for his exceptional work in the industry.

Richard EspositoTo NBCU From ABC News

March, 2013 - Will help guide investigative reporting at NBC News.

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Richard J. Esposition has moved from ABC News to NBC Universal where he has been named Senior Executive Producer, Investigative Unit, NBC News.

In his new role, Richard will help guide and manage the network’s overall investigative direction. He will work with the roster of investigative correspondents, producers, and reporters across
all broadcasts and platforms of the NBCUniversal News Group, including “Today,” “NBC Nightly News,” “Rock Center with Brian Williams,” “Dateline,” NBCNews.com, MSNBC, CNBC, and the
NBC Owned Television Stations.

Richard is a Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist who was Senior Investigative Reporter for ABC News. He also reported on Homeland Security, National Security, and the complex issues of the nation's
criminal justice system.

A journalist with more than 30 years of newspaper and television experience, he has covered
crime stories as varied as Bernie Goetz to 9/11, and is the author of non-fiction books about the DEA and the New York City Bomb Squad.

Evan Weiner"America's Passion"

January, 2013 - How a Coal Miner's Game Became the NFL in the 20th Century.

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Evan Weiner is one of a very small number of people who cover the often unseen nuts and bolts of sports: the politics and business aspects that affect not only sports fans but
non-sports fans too. From locker rooms to boardrooms to hearing rooms, Evan has covered the gritty, pragmatic, dollar-driven sports industry since 1971 by asking consistently
probing, difficult and controversial questions.

In a bit of a departure, Evan is now out with a history of the NFL. His book, "America's Passion: How a Coal Miner's Game Became the NFL in the 20th Century," tells
the story of how football grew to become this country's most popular sport and is told through the recollections of players and others who witnessed the league's growth
at first hand.

The key was television which transformed North American sports starting in the 1950's. Within a decade of the first nationally televised football game, the NFL would become the
country's most popular sport and an economic behemoth whose impact was instrumental in transforming the economies of professional athletics, broadcasting, advertising, and a very long
list of trickle-down enterprises.

Evan Weiner has become well known for exposing and articulating the less celebrated but neverthless vital aspects of what makes sports tick. You can find out more about his latest
journalistic foray into that world and pick up an e-copy of "America's Passion," here.

Press Club member Mervin Block wrote for Walter Cronkite and other anchors at ABC, CBS and NBC including Frank Reynolds, Ed Bradley, Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather and Mike Wallace. He assembled this book mainly from articles he wrote for his popular blog which examines scripts from today’s top network anchors, including Brian Williams, Diane Sawyer, Scott Pelley and Anderson Cooper.

“Weighing Anchors,” says Mervin, “spotlights network newswriting that’s flawed—or worse: words misused, language confused, facts abused. The book focuses on the anchors’ shortcomings; after all, they are responsible for every word they utter on the air. I don’t say anything nasty about them, but I do quote them verbatim, which is bad enough.”

With wit and insight borne of long experience, Block tells readers about the foibles and fumbles of today’s highest-paid broadcasters.

“This book will cause news consumers to question the anchors,” said Editor Jim Schuette of Marion Street Press, Block’s publisher. “The mistakes they make shouldn’t happen, and Weighing Anchors holds them accountable.”

Mervin Block is now a broadcast writing coach and the author of Writing Broadcast News and Broadcast Newswriting: The RTDNA Reference Guide. As an adjunct professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, he taught broadcast newswriting for almost 30 years. Merv is also a TV news judge for the New York Press Club's annual journalism awards.

Joanne will be in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, in September at the Excellence in Journalism gathering organized by the Radio Television Digital News Association and the Society of Professional Journalists. She has been asked to present a pre-conference half-day workshop where she'll help TV and video journalists tackle the voice/breathing, tracking and standup gremlins that frustrate so many. Most of the program is also appropriate for radio and podcasting. The content has been in great demand by print journalists who are now adding video journalism to their skill set.

On the agenda: clearing the air about the well-intended advice everyone receives including: giving it energy, making it conversational, pretending you're speaking to your best friend, adding more inflection, being more relaxed, fixing your voice, and so forth. She'll also cover live and taped standups.

Joanne has been helping television and radio journalists craft their skills in writing, reporting, anchoring and interviewing since 1980. She was moved to establish her TV consulting business in the mid 70's when glib, stylized reporting permeated the news. Worrying that this encroachment threatened the quality of journalism - as well as her sense of humor - Joanne created Stevens Media Consulting, Ltd. Today her clients also include print journalists and bloggers who are new to digital media.

March, 2012 - A New York newsman's New York memoir. Paul's trajectory: from a housing project in the Bronx to editorial desks at the New York Daily News and CBS.

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New York Press Club member Paul LaRosa got his start as a newspaper reporter but his more than 30-year journalism career now spans print and television. He’s been a producer at the popular CBS News magazine “48 Hours” for nearly 20 years. He’s also written for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and has authored four previous books, including “Seven Days of Rage,” his best-selling story of Craigslist Killer Philip Markoff, written with Boston Globe reporter Maria Cramer.

A self-described "clueless kid" growing up in a Bronx housing project, Paul nevertheless quickly discovered that there might be more to life. As the projects went from idyllic to dangerous, he made his way to the New York Daily News where he became a copyboy and later a reporter.

The News was still the largest circulating newspaper in the country but it was the 70's and the paper was in the last, outrageous and often hilarious, gasp of "The Front Page" era. Reporters wallowed in a swirl of alcohol, hookers and bad behavior but none of it stopped them from delivering an electric and engaging paper every day. Paul, a naïf trapped in a Tabloid World, struggled to adapt.

As a reporter, Paul had a front row seat to one of the most harrowing five-year periods in New York City history: the city’s brush with bankruptcy, the terror reign of Son of Sam, the blackout riots, and the murder of John Lennon. His memoir tells what it was like to be in the center of it all.

Reviews so far are glowing.

Says Ken Auletta, "Paul LaRosa has written a poignant and funny memoir that stretches in an unstraight line from mean Bronx streets to the newsroom of the Daily News. Along the way, in snappy prose, he sprinkles wisdom about New York, the pull of peers and of family, the ambition and pride that propels a working class kid to succeed, and a portrait of the zany New York Daily News newsroom that is one part exhilaration, and one part "Front Page." At the end, readers will come to miss the engaging, self-deprecating author whose book reads as breezily as a delicious tabloid newspaper."

Theresa Weir, author of "The Orchard" and a USA Today bestselling novelist, says: Nostalgic, warm, and compelling…I could hear the clack of typewriter keys as I read Paul LaRosa’s Leaving Story Avenue.

Follow the buzz on Paul's website, "Here is New York" where his motto is, "I love New York but it does have issues..."

Beatrice Williams-Rude"Misadventures of a Would-Be Muse"

October, 2011 - An autobiographical collection of literary snapshots that chronicle some of Beatrice's adventures in the worlds of theater, music, politics and even crime.

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A writer, actress, cultural observer, commentator and critic, New York Press Club member Beatrice Williams-Rude is a prolific contributor to this Web site's "Constant Columnist" page. The story of how her stories came to be published in book form is almost as riveting as the tales themselves.

"A series of accidents," says Beatice, kicked-off by an urge to document and culminated by serendipity - an unexpected, posthumous boon from Don Taft, who for a time was Beatrice's agent but whom she hadn't seen for years, cleared the way for publication.

"It started out as an account of my longtime relationship with Dale Wasserman (Man of La Mancha; the stage version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and nine boxes of scripts, mostly TV, in the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts), but Lizzie Simon, the author who taught a memoir class I attended and those in the “writers group” that constituted the class, led me to change the focus and direction.

"The book is really a collection of vignettes," says Beatrice, "grouped by subject matter: The Theater and I (all the anecdotes have a punch line, all are funny one way or another); Crime Time (including the tale of Ken Later, briefly my agent who wound up in a block of cement in a Mafia cemetery); and tales of my father’s fractious family and their roles in Philadelphia’s “bloody Fifth Ward” (see The New York Times, Sept. 23 and 30, 1917).

"I finished it, or rather, finished with it two years ago and hadn’t looked at it until I received news of Don Taft’s death. I’d discussed it with him at length. He’d been my agent and got me the role of Ruth in the Levin version of Compulsion. He’d also been my regular Tuesday night dinner guest for several years – up until he put down roots in Florida.

"We’d never lost touch communicating by phone and snail mail. We’d discussed the book as I was writing it. Because Don didn’t have email (it never occurred to me to Google him) I assumed he was living marginally. I’d no idea that since moving to Florida he’d become a multimillionaire. And fittingly, from food!

"The trajectory: the journey from being “the droop of the third grade” (and also the fourth and fifth) to self acceptance.

"Publication thanks to Don Taft! His lawyer, or rather the lawyer for his estate, was happy with the sections on Don and so..."

Philadelphia born and bred, Beatrice was a contest-winning child pianist, chorus kid, actress, singer and model. She has appeared on Broadway, off-Broadway, in light opera, summer stock - both "in the round" and proscenium - performing in plays and musicals.

After receiving three unpalatable job offers ("obscene hardly describes them") she returned to school and changed the direction of her life, becoming a copy editor.

As Beatrice became ever more involved in the world of publishing she added new roles: researcher and reviewer. Her essays on theater and opera appeared on "Broadway After Dark" and in her "think pieces" on this Web site's page, "The Constant Columnist."

In the winding course of her career she has had "more names than a con man": Beatrice Ruth (the most theater credits), Beatrice Ruth Williams, Beatrice R. W. Williams, and Beatrice Williams-Rude. Starting in Philadelphia she was Beats Walsh.

Beatrice is an active campaigner for humane treatment of animals, the abolition of torture of man and beast, and for world peace. She lives in Manhattan with her husband, Alan Rude.

Misadventures of a Would-Be Muse is available at booksellers, including
Amazon.com.

Debra Caruso - "tvtakesall.com"

July, 2011 - The Press Club member and publicist is talking online about what's happening on TV as chief contributor to her news and commentary blog.

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The blog is called tvtakesall.com and features news, reviews and commentary about television news
and TV programming in general.

Caruso is owner of DJC Communications and for the past 20 years has specialized in media relations.
She is regularly called upon to comment on issues in the news involving the media, particularly television.
The blog is an offshoot of that.

Deb has been quoted in The New York Times, ABC News Radio, E-Commerce Times, Portfolio.com, MacNewsWorld, The Arizona Republic, Forbes.com,
AOL WalletPop, The Christian Science Monitor and the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel among others. She has also contributed to such publications as O’Dwyer’s PR Magazine
and CommPro.biz.

June, 2011 - A photo journalist on New York tabloids for more than 40 years, Arty is out with a book of his iconic photos depicting nearly every notable
local, state, national and international public figure of the last half of the 20th century.

No one works for 40 years in the tabloids without meeting a lot of people along the way. Arty is no exception. The photo gallery at his home contains shots he has taken of nearly every notable local, state, national and international public figure of the last half of the 20th century. Celebrities like the Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Sophia Loren, Gregory Peck and Helen Hayes; heads of state like Fidel Castro and Nikita Krushchev; and political figures like the Kennedys and virtually every American president since the late 1950s -- you name them, they have all come under the gaze of Arty Pomerantz.

A New York Press Club member for decades, Arty has published a book of his photo journalism with help from writer, Steven P. Unger, called "Before the Paparazzi." It is a spectacular collection of iconic photos taken by Arty and annotated by Unger to include the story behind each photo. (A sampler of the book is available here. Copies of the full work can be obtained from your favorite bookseller.)

With a talent for using his viewfinder to show more than we can see, it's no surprise that Arty was nominated for the Pulitzer. He has also won more photography awards than he's bothered to count. To list a few, they come from the Associated Press, the National Press Photographers, New York Press Photographers Association, the New York Press Club, Japan Camera Association, NYPD Police Benevolent Association - Arty's long list of awards makes it abundantly clear that he is a real "shooter." His photos have been syndicated in virtually every major publication in the country. In fact, during the 40 years he was with the tabloids, at least 20 front-page pictures in any 30-day period were Arty's handiwork.

Arty began his career as a hobby while still in his teens. He found photojournalism so entrancing a form of artistic expression that he pursued it through studies in high school, professional school, and at the college level. While still a student, he became an assignment photographer for the New York Journal-American. He later spent more than 30 years as staff photographer and assignment editor at the New York Post.

Before Harry met Sally, Nora met Arty. Pomerantz showed the cub reporter and later screenwriter of the Rob Reiner film, Nora Ephron, the ropes at the nightside of the New York tabloids. When Pete Hamill came out of Brooklyn to the tabloids - long before he became a columnist, editor and nearly rock-star famous - Arty Pomerantz showed the rookie writer Manhattan and Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island, too.

Although no longer working for the tabloids, Arty is now fulfilling assignments and doing digital photography projects. Visit his Website, here.

Phil O'Brien: Buzz60.com

May, 2011 - With former NBC-NY colleagues Jay DeDapper and Tim Minton, Phil is co-founder of a new entry in the online video fray - an on-demand Web outlet for
pithy, stylish, 60-second reports on a variety of timely topics.

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Phil O'Brien is a former president and current Governor of the New York Press Club. The Press Club has no connection to or interests in Buzz60.com. What follows is a press release about Buzz60.com from Zazoom, LLC, the company that controls Buzz60.com and of which Phil is president.

The next wave of video media innovation starts with the launch of Buzz60.com, an all-video information site created by a group of prominent television journalists.

The Buzz60.com experience delivers trendy stories from world events to Hollywood, from hilarious cable news moments to quirky sports situations—all in a sassy, entertaining 60-seconds.

Buzz60.com's all on-demand videos are reported by hosts including former NBC-NY news correspondents Jay DeDapper and Tim Minton, legendary sports broadcaster Len Berman, and film critic Alison Bailes. Buzz60 is a brand of Zazoom LLC, a company co-founded by Philip O'Brien, who helped start New York 1 News as a senior executive at Time Warner Cable.

"We're part of a wholesale change in the way we all consume video media," said Jay DeDapper. "We're going where the viewers are: online and on mobile devices."

Buzz60.com will produce video "snacks" as events happen all day for its innovative website and for distribution partners, including Dailymotion.

"We're creating a sensational user experience," said Tim Minton. "Buzz60 saves time. It allows people to move right to the prime cut to find out what's going on and have fun wherever they are with a single click, tap or touch of a button."

"Whatever people are talking about, they will find fresh material at Buzz60.com," said O'Brien. "More than just what's happening, we provide a spin on events that they can use when discussing them at work or with friends."

March, 2011 - In a recent email to journalists and educators, noted science writer Karen A. Frenkel described a literacy and learning project that she, Leslie Seifert (former Op Ed Editor at Newsday) and more than a few other notables have begun.

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Dear Friend and Colleague:

I'm writing to tell you about Journalists in Schools (JIS). The goal of this new project is to engage New York City high school students in learning and in their communities by teaching them the basics of reporting, while establishing a network of independent journalism inside schools that will benefit the entire student community.

Students would produce a school newspaper and a website about news in their school and neighborhood. A citywide website with news for teens across the school system will let students from different schools see each others' coverage and communicate about it. Journalism tutors (recent J. school grads who would get year-long fellowship stipends) would teach the students, in collaboration with practicing journalists who will volunteer to mentor the post-grad fellows, as well as some of the high school students. So I would run the Science Unit, for e.g., guiding the tutors about sci/tech/health stories, and work with some of the high school students as well.

We are especially targeting at-risk students to participate, because we believe the project can help lower the dropout rate. A very successful pilot has already been implemented in a school in Queens. CNN and WNYC radio covered the pilot. We are now working in two high schools in Manhattan to get news media started in those places.

We think this project is critical not only to education, but to the future of a free press, engaging and cultivating the next generation of journalists – and journalism consumers. At the same time, we are bolstering at-risk teens' social and emotional development so that they succeed in any field they choose.

It is also a unique opportunity for recent journalism graduates to connect with professional journalists and beat reporters through a kind of post-graduate fellowship.

We are looking for journalists and other leaders in media and business who would like to contribute financially and/or donate their time and wisdom as mentors.

Journalists in Schools is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions in behalf of Journalists in Schools may be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Details about donating online or by check are on our website. An Executive Summary of the proposal is also on the site,
in the Why Now? section.

The Executive Director and founder of JIS is Leslie Seifert, former Newsday Op Ed editor and who has taught as an adjunct at Columbia University's School of
Journalism.

Please feel free to pass this along to your colleagues and anyone else you think might be interested.

Tom Robbins Joins CUNY J-School

March, 2011 - A fixture at the Village Voice where his award-winning investigative pieces added luster to that paper's once proud heritage, Robbins left the
Voice abruptly when his friend and fellow journalist Wayne Barrett was laid-off.

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Now comes word that Robbins has joined the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism as its first Investigative Journalist in Residence.

"Tom Robbins is known for breaking news, holding public officials accountable, and maintaining the highest standards of integrity and ethics in his reporting. Our students and faculty will benefit tremendously from having him in our midst," said Stephen B. Shepard, the Journalism School's founding dean.

Robbins will serve as a general resource to the students and faculty and teach an investigative reporting course in the Urban Reporting concentration, which is overseen by Professor Sarah Bartlett. The new course will focus on generating investigative stories for the city's community and ethnic press, as part of the School's ongoing commitment to bolstering that segment of the city's media industry. Thanks to a recent Ford Foundation grant, the Journalism School has embarked on a major fund-raising effort to establish a permanent Center for Community and Ethnic Media.

"Good investigative reporting is critical medicine for a great metropolis, and I look forward to working with the terrific team Steve Shepard has assembled at CUNY's Journalism School to help develop a new corps of diggers for the truth," said Robbins. His role at the School is made possible by a grant from the Kohlberg Foundation.

Marvin Scott Celebrates 50 Years

December, 2010 - New York TV newsman Marvin Scott is celebrating two milestone achievements: 50 years as a broadcast journalist, 30 of them as a member of the WPIX-TV news team where he is now Senior Correspondent.

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Marvin Scott has been on the frontline of history for half a century. In a profession that is constantly changing, few television reporters experience three uninterrupted decades of airtime at one station. To commemorate this remarkable achievement, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer presented Marvin Scott with a proclamation that declared Monday, November 29th, 2010 "Marvin Scott Day" in Manhattan. In addition, Congressman Peter King, Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Committee, will issue a Congressional Proclamation "honoring Marvin Scott for his 50 years of outstanding service as a New York broadcast legend who personifies New York's style, class and grit."

"It is a pleasure and a great personal honor for me to salute Marvin Scott, on the occasions of his 50th year as a broadcast reporter and his 30 years at WPIX-TV," said Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer. "Marvin's longevity is truly remarkable, in a fast-paced business where turnover is so frequent. But his success goes beyond his years. He has covered the news with flair and integrity for half a century, and the stories he has brought to the TV screen are a roadmap to our times: The end of the Cold War; the Kennedy assassination; the Iranian hostage crisis; the Challenger disaster; the 9-11 terror attacks; the crash of TWA flight 800 and so many more. He has been honored for his work with six Emmy awards for outstanding journalistic achievement, but even more important is the fact that Marvin Scott is a decent, principled man who exemplifies the highest standards of broadcast journalism. I am proud to declare Monday, Nov. 29th as "Marvin Scott Day" in Manhattan," Stringer concluded.

Manhattan Beep Stringer presents Scott with Proclamation

Quite an honor for a kid from the Bronx who, at the age of 14, chased fire engines and celebrities with a camera and sold his pictures to local newspapers and magazines. Since joining WPIX in 1980, Scott has won six Emmy awards for outstanding journalistic achievement. He has worn many hats as anchor, reporter, writer, host and producer. He is currently the station's Senior Correspondent and host of the weekly issues-oriented "PIX News Closeup" program, now in its 18th year.

Over the course of his career, Scott has made history as well as covering it. He was the first American reporter since the demise of the Soviet Union to go to sea aboard a Russian warship, as it sailed out of New York following Fleet Week. His investigation of cheating on citywide tests led to legislation making it a criminal act. It was Scott's idea and initiative that led to the supersonic Concorde being awarded to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. On the 40th anniversary of the JFK assassination, Scott added a voice to history by obtaining Abraham Zapruder's film of the shooting and using a portion of a 1965 interview he did with the Dallas dress manufacturer to synchronize with the 26 second film clip. Scott's raw interview with Zapruder is now part of the permanent archives of the assassination at the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.

Among his assignments, Scott was in Wiesbaden, Germany after hostages were released from a hijacked TWA jet. He was at the White House during the tense moments before the release of American hostages from Iran; and at West Point for their homecoming. In 1984 he received a national Emmy nomination for his coverage of the McDonald's massacre in which a gunman killed 21 people in San Jsidro, California. He was at the Kennedy Space center for the maiden launch of the Space Shuttle Columbia, and back a few years later to cover the Challenger disaster. On the first anniversary of 9/11 he gained an exclusive by flying over Ground Zero in the back seat of an F15 with one of the first two pilots to scramble after the terrorists attacks. With the Air Force Thunderbirds he pulled 9 Gs during a flight aboard an F-16, and with the Navy he's dived beneath Long Island Sound in two nuclear attack submarines. Scott was honored for his coverage of the TWA 800 crash and won two Emmys for his coverage of the Congressional Whitewater hearings.

After graduating from New York University, Scott got what he calls his "basic training" at radio and television stations in the Midwest. After stints at the Mutual Broadcasting System, Channel 5 (then WNEW-TV) and CNN, Scott joined the PIX news team in November of 1980 as a general assignment reporter. One of his first assignments was coverage of the murder of John Lennon. One year later he was named co-anchor of "Midday Edition" on WPIX's fledgling Independent Network News. For a period of time he shared the anchor desk with New York's former first lady, Donna Hanover. In subsequent assignments Scott anchored weekend and weeknight broadcasts, and began hosting "PIX News Closeup" in 1992.

Much of Scott's reporting has focused on politics. He has covered 16 presidential nominating conventions, 8 mayoral and gubernatorial elections. He's interviewed every mayor since John Lindsay, and every governor since Nelson Rockefeller. Six U.S. Presidents have been on the other side of his microphone, among them Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford and George Bush Sr. Other notable interviews have been with Israeli President Shimon Peres, then Foreign Minister, Watergate burglar G. Gordon Liddy and Watergate whistleblower John Dean. Henry Kissinger, Rev. Billy Graham, Theodore Sorenson, Eliot Spitzer, Astronaut Gordon Cooper, Larry King, Sophia Loren, Tony Bennett, Charlton Heston, and Jerry Lewis are among the others Scott has interviewed. Scott received an Emmy for the Lewis interview.

Despite a hectic schedule, Scott has always found time to give back to the community he loves. He is former president of the Television-Radio Working Press Association. He has hosted telethons and served on boards of charitable organizations and as master of ceremonies of such functions as the Ellis Island Medals of Honor, The Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Coast Guard and Airmen's annual gala. When not in Iraq, he dons a red suit and serves at Santa Claus at the Friars Club annual Christmas party for needy children. He is a recipient of the Ellis Island Medal, and has been installed in the Bronx Walk of Fame. In 2001 he was inducted into the coveted Silver Circle of the NY chapter of the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences. In addition to his seven Emmy Awards, Scott has received more than 30 Emmy nominations, a national Headliners Award, honors from Associated Press Broadcasters, and the Terry Anderson Award for "Professionalism in Journalism."

Scott has never forgotten that it all started with his camera, chasing the fire engines in the old neighborhood and getting his first picture of a raging fire published in the Daily News. Photography remains one of Scott's passions. His work has been exhibited at a number of New York galleries and he is planning to have another exhibition next year.

Looking further ahead, Scott says he has no intentions of retiring. He'd like to write a book, and continue to tell stories. He maintains, "Each day is an education, a new challenge. I'm still energized to do pushups with our troops in Iraq, and ask the tough questions in New York. I still love what I do and feel blessed. I'm a kid from the Bronx who each day continues to fulfill my dream."

Evan Weiner Earns Sports Media Award

November, 2010 - The sports journalist/commentator known for his columns about the business and politics of sports, has been named the winner
of the United States Sports Academy's 2010 Ronald Reagan Media Award.

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Weiner has been a contributing columnist for Newsday, the New York Sun, the Orlando Sentinel, Metro Philadelphia, Metro New York and the Washington Examiner. He is a re-occurring guest on "Politics Live" with Sam Donaldson.

Weiner also lectures at colleges and universities about the business and politics of sports, including the globalization of North American sports and how technology is changing sports. His book, The Business and Politics of Sports, has been critically acclaimed by academic journals and is used as part of a number of sports business management courses at schools throughout the United States.

He started his journalism career at the age of 15 by hosting a Spring Valley High School talk show on WRKL Radio, Mount Ivy, N.Y. in 1971, while also covering high school sports for the Rockland Journal News in Nyack, N.Y. By 1978, he was covering news for WGRC Radio, where he won two Associated Press Awards. In the 1980s, he started his long association with Westwood One Radio, where he had a daily radio commentary, "The Business of Sports," that ran for eight years. Weiner has also appeared on programs on the History Channel with Al Michaels and Frank Deford, as well as the BBC Radio Documentary Sports and Sponsorship.

The Ronald Reagan Media Award, named in honor of the 40th President of the United States, is presented to an individual for outstanding contributions to sport through broadcasting, print, photography or acting. The individual should exhibit imagination, excitement and genius in kindling a keen public interest and appreciation for the role of sport in modern society.

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